The Dallas Cowboys have completed their third trade with the Steelers over the last two seasons, this time bringing in disgruntled Pittsburgh cornerback Joey Porter Jr. Porter has been at odds with his organization over his contract, as he sought a big increase his former organization was unwilling to pay.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones recently hinted at a pending move, with his now famous quote that there's "nothing more dangerous than an old man with money" following the team's Week 2 win over Washington. Now, following their Week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens that saw their secondary further decimated by injury, Jones and the Cowboys front office has pulled off yet another major move.
Dallas is sending Pittsburgh a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028
second-round pick to acquire the former Penn State Nittany Lion. The move was first reported by Netflix's Tom Pelissero.
Porter allows the Cowboys some flexibility in the back end of their defense, which has been ravaged by injuries. Dallas entered their Week 3 game without safeties Malik Hooker and PJ Locke (IR) and cornerback Cobie Durant. They'd go on to lose safety Jalen Thompson (IR) and cornerback Shavon Revel.
But Porter isn't a depth piece, he's a chess piece that fundamentally changes how the Cowboys are going to deploy their roster. Porter is a traveling boundary corner who will assume CB1 duties in Christian Parker's defense. As he's primarily a man-to-man corner, it will be interesting to see if he's asked to play more zone or if Dallas is looking to change their zone-heavy approach they've used through the first three games of the season.
Adding Porter to the outside could eventually shift Daron Bland into the slot, where he starred as a rookie before moving to the outside. That could allow rookie Caleb Downs to play a more traditional box safety role opposite Malik Hooker, who could return as early as this week's game against the Houston Texans.
For those dominoes to fall, however, Durant and Revel would need to return to practice. Both were DNPs on Wednesday, prior to the Cowboys trading for Porter.
On the grander to-do list, the Cowboys are likely to explore an hefty contract extension for Porter as that was the impetus for his desire to leave Mike McCarthy's Steelers.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: BREAKING: Cowboys acquire CB Joey Porter in another trade with Steelers
